Trump On Second Amendment Backlash: 'I Think It's A Good Thing For Me'

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump points to a member of the audience as he makes remarks Tuesday, Aug. 9, 2016 at the Trask Coliseum on the campus of University of North Carolina at Wilmington in Wilmington, N.C. (Chuck Liddy/Raleigh News & Observer/TNS via Getty Images)

After an outcry from Democrats and gun-control advocates over remarks that appeared to obliquely encourage violence, Trump said he didn’t mean to suggest any harm. The real villains, he said on Fox News, were the media.

“I have to say, in terms of politics, there is few things, and I happen to think that if [the media] did even bring this up, I think it’s a good thing for me,” Trump told Sean Hannity.

“Because it’s going to tell people more about me with respect to the Second Amendment ... because Hillary Clinton wants to essentially abolish the Second Amendment.”

Trump told Hannity “there can be no other interpretation” to what he said other than as a commentary on Clinton’s position on the Second Amendment. “Even reporters have told me,” Trump said. “I mean, give me a break.”

The National Rifle Association, which has backed Trump since his nomination, defended his statements. However, the NRA ignored the most controversial part of Trump’s claims.